By mid-2004, one prototype and one pre-production AV-81 Terrex AIFV had been built and these have been demonstrated in Asia and Europe, where the vehicle is being offered for a number of emerging wheeled armoured vehicle requirements.

As with a number of other recent wheeled armoured vehicles, the AV-81 Terrex is of modular design with various levels of armour protection and weapon systems being marketed up to a gross vehicle weight of 24,000kg.

The AV-81 Terrex's layout is conventional: the driver sits front left and the power pack is to the right. This leaves the rest of the vehicle clear for the troop compartment, which is provided with a power-operated ramp and roof hatches.

Various weapon systems can be fitted on the roof, including remote-controlled weapon stations armed with a 40mm automatic grenade launcher and a 7.62mm coaxial machine gun or a complete stabilised turret armed with a 25mm M242 cannon and 7.62mm coaxial machine gun. Additional 7.62mm machine guns can be mounted over the rear troop compartment.

Standard equipment includes powered steering on the front four wheels, central tyre-pressure inflation system, anti-lock braking system and nuclear, biological and chemical defensive system, but there are numerous options.

In its baseline configuration, the AV-81 Terrex is fully amphibious: two water jets mounted one either side at the back of the hull propel the vehicle through water at 10km/h.